Freedom of expression

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that the high prosecutor (Kejaksaan Tinggi) in East Java province, Indonesia has announced 35 suspects in the brutal attack of two land rights activists. Although the ARHC appreciates this achievement, the investigation should be continued to uncover any alleged involvement of the state […]

While religious diversity forms the bedrock of a civilized democratic state, the right to propagate and freely practice one’s religion is strictly restricted by Pakistan’s orthodox clergy, which is bent upon imposing its own version of the state religion. There is a growing concern within the country over the shrinking social space for minorities. Far […]

The Asian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) partner organization the Terai Human Rights Defenders (THRD) Alliance have secured information that the Nepal police have started arresting Madhesi protesters in different cases, mostly related toevents that occurred during the 5 month long protests and blockade in the southern plains. This is a systematic trend of charging with […]

In a conservative society like Pakistan, being a trans-person is deemed a crime. The transgender community is treated as outcastes having no identity or rights. Like other marginalized factions of the society, the transgender suffer discrimination and injustice at the hands of the influential. According to Front Line Defender, the International Foundation for the Protection […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about three student protesters who face multiple cases over peaceful assembly and procession. The students’ call for amendment of the 2008 Constitution led them to face criminal charges. They are at present detained in Insein Prison, where they await trial. Two cases have been […]

In this week’s episode, Just Asia covers the commemoration of the 1989 Talangsari Massacre in Indonesia. Although the Talangsari Massacre was mentioned by President Widodo as one of his government’s priorities, until now no concrete solution has been provided. Next, Just Asia looks at the unrest at India’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The unrest […]

Although the right to education is a fundamental human right recognised throughout the civilised world, girls in Pakistan still have to fight for the right. Many even lose their life in this battle, such as 17-year-old Saqiba. A student of the Government Girls Degree College in Muslim Bagh, Balochistan, Saqiba Hakim Kakar committed suicide on […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the police brutally attacked members of a peaceful protest conducted by labor unions in front of the Presidential Palace on 30 October 2015. As a result of the attack, two of the Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH) Lawyers, 24 laborers and one university student were […]

Torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killings have become endemic in the country marred by internal conflict. Rule of law and justice have become a distant dream for the victims and families of missing persons. And, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture in custody and arbitrary detentions, have been given legal and constitutional coverage by the government. Through […]

The trouble fomenting in Indian varsities ever since the new government came to power has now reached one of the most prestigious universities of the country, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The stir ostensibly started after a group of students organized an event commemorating the death anniversary of Afzal Guru and called his hanging a […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learnt that the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Police Headquarters (Bareskrim Mabes Polri) has summoned human rights defender Mr. Erwin Natosmal Oemar for questioning regarding his statement on a TV talk show on 25 August 2015. Mr. Erwin works at the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR), an […]

This week’s episode of Just Asia focuses on Hong Kong, where the first day of the Lunar New Year saw violent clashes between protesters and police. The unrest caused shock and increased the sense of uncertainty lingering in the wake of the disappearance of five booksellers in January. The violence erupted overnight as police attempted […]

On 11 February 2016 the Thai army threatened human rights defenders for documenting the military’s continued use of torture on detainees in the country’s south. Major General Banpot Poonpien, the spokesperson for a specialist counterinsurgency agency, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), accused the human rights groups of fabricating accounts of torture to obtain funding […]

In this episode, Just Asia continues to cover critical human rights flashpoints in Asia. In Pakistan, three employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have been killed in clashes near the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on February 3. The employees were on a countrywide protest against privatization of the national airlines. Around 30 persons have also been […]

A 21-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself on 28 January 2016. In her suicide note the woman wrote about the most obvious and the ugly truth of India: that of losing faith in the country’s criminal justice process. She wrote: “Please mummy, papa forgive me. I will not get justice anymore, nor will I […]

On February 2, the Pakistan Rangers, who have been given unbridled powers by the Federal government, have taken into custody four trade union leaders. These leaders were picked up from different locations in Karachi. Since then their whereabouts are unknown. The Sindh police deny having the men in their custody; the Rangers are yet to […]

Since inception, Pakistan has been at war with its own citizens; time and again the State has indulged in gross human rights violation to muzzle voices of dissent. Ethnic Balochis have especially suffered discrimination and stigmatization, by successive military and civil governments. Due to State negligence, Baluchistan remains the least developed province even though its […]

Hong Kong, 03 February 2016 Geneva-Paris-Hong Kong, February 3, 2016. The authorities of Bangladesh should immediately release journalist Mahmudur Rahman, who completed 1,000 days in custody without trial on January 6, 2016 as part of the Government’s efforts to stifle critical voices in the country, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a […]

RohithVemula’s suicide will not be just another suicide in the statistical records of the National Crime Records Bureau. It will not be so in the same way the 2006 massacre in Khairlanjiwas not. These two cases separated by almost a decade,are far more than a statistic of ordinary crime, such as that committed in a […]

Personnel from the Pakistan Rangers have used brute force against unarmed protesters, causing the death of three Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) employees, who were out protesting against the privatisation of the State owned airlines. The dead include Zubair Ahmed, Manager HR department, Saleem Akbar, I.T Engineer, and Inayat Jafri, a senior officer.The demonstrators assembled peacefully […]